A REAL BEAR OUTSPOKEN BRYAN COX HAS MADE HIMSELF RIGHT AT HOME AS THE NEW LEADER IN CHICAGO

A little past seven last Friday morning, the NFL's mostmisunderstood player sat in the cafeteria of the Chicago Bears'training-camp complex in Platteville, Wis., looking nothing likethe quarterback terrorist his new coach, Dave Wannstedt, hopeshe will be. He looked placid, actually, a man happy with his joband his stature and what he considers his ridiculous wealth.Well, there was one thing bothering him.

"You know," said this complex man, his brow wrinkling on hisround face, "I went to Coach Wannstedt the other day, and Iasked him, 'Nothing against this camp, but can we get the f---out of here early?' I've been a month without seeing my wife,six weeks without seeing my kids. Man, I miss seeing my kidswhen I go home at night. Do you know what that's like?"

Cuddly and forthright and rebellious, all at the same time. Thatsums up what the Bears got for their $13.2 million when theysigned free-agent defender Bryan Cox to a four-year deal inFebruary. Cox made his Soldier Field debut on Sunday inChicago's 24-21 preseason victory over the Miami Dolphins, hisformer team, and Bears fans had to be happy with what they saw.The ebullient Wannstedt certainly was. "He's everything wethought he'd be," Wannstedt said. "And more."

Cox made but two tackles in two quarters, but twice he snuffedout drives with impact plays. On fourth-and-one from the Miami44 late in the first quarter, Cox the middle linebacker stood uplead blocker and fullback Stanley Pritchett, allowing fiveteammates to stop running back Irving Spikes for no gain. In thesecond quarter Cox the defensive end--that's where he'll play onmost passing downs--was scrumming with Dolphins left tackleRichmond Webb when quarterback Dan Marino fired a bullet towardthe left sideline. Cox extended his right arm and deflected thepass into the arms of defensive end Al Fontenot.

"Sure was funny seeing him in that black uniform," Webb saidafterward. "We didn't see that competitive rage today, but it'llcome."

To be sure. Cox plays with a fire few players have, and thepreseason is no time to ignite it. Come October he'll blow agasket at a referee's call or a misplay by a teammate, and everyfootball fan in every bar and den will think he's seeing areplay of one of the five or six memorable occasions duringCox's five years in Miami, when defensive line coach Joe Greeneor even coach Don Shula had to hold Cox back from doingsomething stupid, like attacking a teammate or an official.Unfortunately, when that happens, Cox's talent as a footballplayer will be overshadowed.

Cox brings it on himself, this out-of-control tag. Three seasonsago in Buffalo he was fined $10,000 by the NFL for makingobscene gestures to the crowd at Rich Stadium. That incident isvivid in the minds of many fans, but the two death threats Coxsays he received on the eve of the game were never widelyreported. He says that the league failed to provide adequatesecurity for him that day, which put him on edge, and that hisoutburst was a response to vulgar taunting by Bills fans. Tenmonths later Cox sued the NFL for undisclosed damages forforcing him to play in a racially hostile environment; the sideseventually settled out of court, with the league paying Cox'slegal fees.

Leashing his fury, Cox contends, isn't an option, because itwould hinder him as a player. Whatever his excesses, he's animportant player in a league all too concerned with conformity.Cox isn't afraid to speak his mind. Ask him how he gets mentallyprepared for a game, and he says, "I make up things, like theguy I'm playing against has just done something evil to my wifeor my kids or my mom. If somebody has just kidnapped your kids,what are you going to do? You're going to try to kill his ass."Ask him if he's crazy, and he says, "That's what people don'tunderstand. You know you're crazy for playing this game anyway.If I lose that edge, I can't compete. This is a violent game."Ask him about the responsibility of black players outsidefootball, and he says, "Black players in this league aresuckers. They don't know how to be accountable and stand up andbe a man about nothing. The one thing that this league can useto keep black athletes, especially, in check is to talk aboutfining them. 'Oh, I ain't losing no money,' they say. If Ibelieve in something, you can take my whole paycheck, becauseI'm going to fight you tooth and nail."

He says he is embarrassed when he sees his outbursts on TV. Hesays there is "no damn way" he's worth the $3.3 million a yearhe's earning, which ranks him among the highest-paid defensiveplayers in the league.

If salaries were measured solely on statistics, he wouldn't be.He doesn't figure to be among the league leaders in sacks; theBears would be happy if he finished with 10 or 11, which wouldbe a healthy increase over the 7.5 he had with the Dolphins lastyear. And he will get pushed around occasionally because, at 250pounds, he's no match for Nate Newton-sized offensive linemen.But in comparative terms he's a bargain. When guys withoutpedigrees, guys like Marco Coleman of the San Diego Chargers andAlonzo Spellman of the Bears, are making $3 million or more ayear, then what is Cox, a three-time Pro Bowl player at 28, worth?

Wannstedt saw Cox as a leader, and that was a big reason he wason the phone to him at 7 a.m. on Feb. 16, the first day of thefree-agent signing period. Wannstedt phoned Cox three times thatday and placed another 15 calls to Cox's agent, Clifford Brady.The Chargers, the Denver Broncos, the Green Bay Packers and theSt. Louis Rams were also interested, but Chicago moved quicklyto sign its man. The deal was done within five days, before anyother team had a chance to make a serious offer. "We've neverreally had a leader here," offensive coordinator Ron Turnersaid. "Until now."

The Chicago players liked what they saw of Cox in off-seasonworkouts, but they didn't know much about him. Early in campeven Cox was worried his teammates might think he was overrated."I had the lowest vertical leap among the linebackers and theslowest time in the 40," he says. "I think guys were starting tolook at me funny."

Then two things happened. First Cox ran a series of 110-yardconditioning sprints in nothing but spikes and a jockstrap."Gave the secretaries a thrill," says quarterback Erik Kramer.It also told his teammates, We can have fun out here while we'rekilling ourselves. Next Cox showed his teammates he could play.Wannstedt puts his players through what he calls the middledrill, in which the offensive line faces the defensive frontseven and a back tries to run up the gut. Helmets crack, grownmen brawl, coaches measure toughness. On Cox's first middledrill as a Bear he burst through a gap and leveled formerHeisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam. Cox got up screaming andhelmet-banging. On the third play of the drill third-yearfullback Raymont Harris met Cox. The collision sent Harrisflying backward and the defense into a celebratory frenzy. "Who?What? Who hit me?" a dazed Harris said later. Says linebackerVinson Smith, "That did it. If anybody doubted Bryan beforethat, nobody did anymore."

The Bears need that kind of physical presence; last year onlyseven teams allowed more points than the 22.5 per game thatChicago gave up. Against Miami on Sunday the Bears jetted to a19-0 lead and thoroughly frustrated the Dolphins' attempts toestablish a running game before Marino rallied his team towithin five points at halftime. Miami coach Jimmy Johnson cameto Soldier Field determined to run the ball with Spikes, rookiesKarim Abdul-Jabbar and Jerris McPhail and Terry Kirby, who wasbeing showcased for a potential late-August trade. In the firsthalf the Dolphins' first-team offense ran the ball 12 timesagainst the Bears' first-team defense and gained but 35 yards."If we're going to be a good football team--and we are--it's notgoing to come by us throwing the ball 50 times a game," Johnsonsaid afterward. "We've got to build a running game."

Johnson is tearing down the House That Shula Built. Aside fromMarino, who are these guys? Johnson's opening-game lineup willinclude as many as 15 starters who are different from theplayers in the 1995 opening-day lineup. This is how wild andcrazy the situation in Miami is: Johnson brought in 33-year-oldJack Del Rio to play middle linebacker. He viewed Del Rio as atrusted veteran around whom a bunch of rookies could grow andlearn. Del Rio, however, was released after one preseason gameand replaced by 5'11", 231-pound Zach Thomas, a fifth-round pickfrom Texas Tech. Thomas is one of four or five rookies ticketedto start. "I love Jack Del Rio," Johnson said last Saturday,"but Zach's making more plays. Period. And young legs make moreplays than old legs in December and January. I keep telling theplayers I'm going to put the best players out there. Pedigreemeans nothing to me. What can they do for me now?"

Johnson remains his old wheeling-and-dealing self. Offer him athird- or fourth-rounder in the 1997 draft, and you can haveeither Kirby--Vinny Cerrato, director of player personnel forthe running back-needy 49ers (page 54), was at the game scoutingthe fourth-year back--or Pete Stoyanovich, the fourth-mostaccurate kicker in NFL history. Johnson scoffs at the notionthat he is making a rash judgment on Stoyanovich, who's on theblock because unknown Joe Nedney has shown a strong leg. "InDallas [placekicker] Lin Elliott won for us one year," Johnsonsays. "When he wasn't going good the next year, we fired him andgot a guy off the street [Eddie Murray] and won the Super Bowl.Big deal."

After Sunday's game, while not quite blowing a gasket, Cox wasgoing off again. This time his target was 72-year-old SoldierField. "This is the raggiest, lousiest stadium in the league,"he said. "This must be the last stadium left in the leaguewithout a damn Jumbotron to see highlights. I wish thepoliticians in this city would get off their asses and get us astadium built."

Cox screwed in his $2,000 diamond-stud earrings. As he walkedfrom the locker room in the stadium he hates, he listened toanother question: What's the most misunderstood thing about you?He stopped. "Nothing," he replied.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing," Cox said. "Because I don't care what people think,and people outside of my world don't know me. My wife loves me.My kids love me. I do my job the best I can, and I do what Ithink is right. Isn't that enough?"

COLOR PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPHS BY JONATHAN DANIEL Cox has always stood out in a crowd--but more for his angry outbursts than for his All-Pro play. [Dan Marino, Bryan Cox and others in game]COLOR PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPHS BY JONATHAN DANIEL Cox is worth his $3.3 million, even if he doesn't match up well against big linemen like Miami's Chris Gray. [Chris Gray blocking Bryan Cox]COLOR PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPHS BY JONATHAN DANIEL The Bears are banking that Cox can turn their fortunes around in his unique way. [Bryan Cox wearing helmet backwards]

Before he became the premier postseason performer of his generation, the Patriots icon was a middling college quarterback who invited skepticism, even scorn, from fans and his coaches. That was all—and that was everything